A/N : I'm sorry this chapter is up so late. It's been a bit of a struggle to keep this up. But thanks to everyone who reviews, it really helps. :)

Tori

"Tori? Miss Tori Vega?"

Tori blinked, coming back to her senses slowly. The dark lightened, and colours swirled into focus, merging together to form a classroom. And a rather flustered-looking Sikowitz peering down at her.

"Mmm...what? Oh, I'm sorry, Sikowitz!" She exclaimed, now fully aware of her surroundings. Tori was in Sikowitz's classroom, in a lesson.

And it appeared she'd just got caught in the middle of a rather vivid daydream about Jade.

Sikowitz rolled his eyes and huffed. "Never mind, Miss Vega. But pay a little more attention next time."

Jade snickered from beside her - after glaring at anyone else who dared to utter a sound in Tori's general direction.

"What was it this time? Handcuffs? Shackles? Various...instruments?" Jade's eyes clouded over as she evidently imagined it.

"Dream on, Jade" Tori hissed, though that did sound appealing (not that she'd ever admit it). "How do you even know...?"

"Your cheeks are bright pink. And, forgive the assumption, but not many people lick their lips whilst fantasizing about anything that isn't food. Whilst blushing," She offered casually.

Tori folded her arms across her chest. "Well, you got me, Detective West."

"Yay!" Jade squealed, causing more than a few people, including Sikowitz to turn round and stare at this out-of-character display. He raised an eyebrow.

She shrunk back in her seat, but resumed a more Jade-like look of smugness. "Knew it."

The lesson passed fairly slowly, but as it always did, the bell eventually rang for lunch. Out of the corner of her eye, Tori spotted Beck getting hastily up, ready to rush out of the classroom as per usual since the incident a few days ago and his humiliation. But today he didn't scramble off anywhere - instead, he waited calmly at the door.

That guy really does give me the creeps.

She shuddered inwardly, then touched Jade's arm. "Let's go."

Jade caught on immediately. "Oh no, Vega. We take the usual door. I will no be seen crawling away through the opposite door just because he's at that one. Crawling away is for losers, and petty, silly little girls after a break up, and-"

As much as Tori loved Jade's fantastic ranting, her brow furrowed as she stared hard at that well-groomed rat and let Jade's voice fade into the background.

What are you up to...?

"Okay, so, let's go through the NORMAL door, alright?"

"Mmmph." Tori didn't take her eyes off Beck. Thankfully, he hadn't noticed.

Because he was waiting intently for... Cat? He took her hand as the red-head grinned widely and began to babble insistently about her brother.

"Oh no you don't," Tori growled under her breath.

"Tori. What. The hell-" She stopped, squinted, and blinked in disbelief. "Hey, that's... that's Cat!"

"I know."

"And just what does he think he's doing?"

At that moment Beck caught them staring, and smiled in this pompous, winner-takes-it-all way; then tossed his hair arrogantly, and walked away with Cat trailing at his side, who was obviously delighted to receive this affection.

"Well, sure, that's attractive, if you like the male version of Barbie." Jade scowled as she spoke. "But then again, Barbie has an inhumanly scrawny neck... so much easier to...snap."

"Jade!"

"What?"

Robbie interrupted this with a clear of his throat. "Um, guys?"

Both girls turned to stare.

He gulped, and attempted to loosen his collar, though froze when he saw Jade's eyes fixate on his (currently available) neck.

"P-please! Not m-me!" He squeaked.

"Oh please," Rex grumbled from somewhere. "She's like an angry pussy-cat. Sure, she's got claws and temper, but she's all fluffy really... like a lap-cat for Tori."

"Fluffy?" Jade ignored the second part of the sentence, sounding a mix between amused and incredulous. "It called me fluffy, Tori."

Tori rolled her eyes. What Rex said rang with a grain of truth: Jade West would have snapped both the rude-mouthed puppet and the boy in two for such a thing only a few weeks ago. "Yes, he did. Anyway. What did you want, Robbie?"

"W-well," He began. "You see, Cat was supposed to be meeting me this lunchtime, but-"

"She seems to have wandered off with better-looking, better-smelling-"

"And not to be big-headed or anything, but... well..."

"He thinks that it's odd of Cat to do that." Rex finished for him. The two-part explanation by Robbie and Rex was a little weird for Tori to immediately catch on.

"Why should we care?" Jade retorted.

"We saw you hesitate, and thought... maybe... you'd help?" The boy looked hopefully at Tori.

"Me? Help you? Ridiculous." Jade scoffed.

Seriously, that girl's emotional mood swings are gonna kill me slowly. "Yes, we'll help, Robbie. Cat's our friend too. Right, Jade?" Tori made her voice go all high and airy, speaking in a patronizing way to Jade, who merely raised an eyebrow. So she elbowed her hard.

"Fuck, Tori, I hardly deserved that!" The goth grumbled, rubbing her arm. "But I suppose so..."

"Great. Now what?"

"I think Robbie was planning on going and bawling his eyes out in the boys toilets because kitty-Cat ditched him. So, you know-"

"Rex..." Robbie groaned. Though his eyes were watering a little.

"Oh, go away then!" Jade yelled, shooing the boy away. "Go cry, while me and Tori do all the work!"

"Jade, you didn't have to do that..." Tori mumbled, once Robbie had been chased away.

"Yes, I did, thank you Vega. And now we'll go find Cat and Beck Oliver." The last two words were spat through clenched teeth.

It wasn't too hard to find the two. They were sat outside, Cat munching happily on what looked like mango salad from a distance. Beck appeared to be trying to initiate conversation, but everything somehowhad a link back to the girl's mentally-ill brother.

"Well, that's that sorted. I think Cat will be just fine on her own, I mean, look at him!" Jade uttered what could only be described as a cackle.

"Jade, wait..." Tori tugged at the goth's sleeve as she stood up to leave. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Girl, you over-think everything. I've no qualms if you've suddenly decided to become a philosopher instead of a singer, well, as long as you don't go all boring, but at least wait until we finish school to start any of it would you?"

"But he could have picked any girl, just to try and get us jealous, assuming that's it, and I don't think it is," Tori protested. "What's he trying to do, or achieve, with Cat?"

"Double-jealousy, since she's our friend?" Jade suggested, then rolled her eyes. "What's you're theory then, Sherlock?"

"I don't know... that's what we've got to figure out."

Jade looked exasperated. "You make it sound like we're in a film. We aren't, and Beck isn't this evil mastermind, and I think you're ridiculous, and I'm HUNGRY. Let's go eat before I get a headache on top of that."

That stung a little, but Tori got up from their little advantage point to follow Jade to the canteen, feeling a little disheartened.